Description

In each level, the rectangular playing area contains a different pattern of colored bubbles. At the bottom of the screen is Tux, the Linux penguin, who is being controlled by the player. As Tux, he operates a machine that fires new bubbles up the screen in a chosen direction. These bubbles travel in straight lines, possibly bouncing off the walls of the playing area, until they are stopped by other bubbles. As soon as three bubbles of the same color touch each other, they fall off the screen, along with any bubbles hanging only from them. At regular times, the ceiling of the playing area is lowered, leaving less room to put new bubbles. If any existing bubbles pass the bottom of the playing area before it is completely empty, it's game over.

The game contains 100 handmade levels. It is also possible to play a randomly generated level or create one yourself with the built-in level editor.

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Trivia

Windows port

The game never received an official Windows port; in the developer's words,

I already happen to not like Windows very much, but since I work for a free software company, I'm certainly not gonna spend some time porting the game to Windows.

That said, version 1.0.0 of the game was ported to Windows by Amir Szekely; the download page on the official Frozen Bubble website used to link to the port's web page, though with the note that "proprietary software sucks, please use Frozen Bubble with a free OS when possible". After the release of v2.0.0 the link was removed, with the note that "No the 2.x version is not yet ported to Windows or Mac OSX. Ideal time to switch to Linux!"

As of 2014, the download page promises that "The upcoming 2.2.1 version is ported to Windows and Mac OSX thanks to Kartik, Froggs and friends!"